"For the love of money is the root of all evil." (1 Tim. 6:10a) Ergo... follow the money.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Changes, Part Deux

More staff shakeups were announced at BBC last night. Phil Newberry, current Student Minister, says Steve Gaines approached him six weeks ago yesterday (that would have been May 20th) about becoming the "campus pastor" for the Arlington satellite. He said, "Jeanne and I began to pray through that. It took several weeks to pray through that. And a few weeks ago we accepted." (Several weeks + a few weeks = 6?)

So Phil Newberry is resigning as "Minister, Students" August 1st to become "Campus Pastor" for the new Arlington campus. According to Phil, Steve and David Coombs "shared their vision" and said they "prayed through it" and felt Phil was "the one to lead it."

Gregg Hauss is resigning as "Minister, Senior High" August 1st to go to the Arlington campus as "Discipleship Pastor."

"Pastor and David" instructed Phil to begin a nationwide search for the next student and senior high pastors. (So Phil was instructed to find his own replacement?) Phil says, "In the same meeting within the same 60 seconds, I boldly... and... correctly... said... 'The search is over. Don't have to pray about it. Don't have to seek anyone. I believe the student pastor to lead us into the next generation... the next... he'll be here for 30 years... okay... is Jason Pyron.' Love this man, and I promise you this. Forty-three thousand Southern Baptist churches... no need to look beyond the gift that we have in Jason and Dorie."

So glad at least Phil appreciated Jason and saw the wisdom in promoting someone already on staff! (And seriously, who wants to have to conduct a nationwide search for his own successor unless he's being promoted to "senior pastor"?) Jason Pyron seems to be a worthy choice whom the kids already know and like. So he will be promoted from "Minister, Middle School" to "Minister, Students" on August 1st.That leaves the middle school and high school positions open. Regarding that, Phil says, "Monday, Jason, Pastor, and David interviewed a young man, and today (Wednesday) Jason, Pastor, and David interviewed a second young man. We believe God is in it for these two to come in and join our staff."

Phil says, "Ben Cole will be on board with us." (This is NOT the Ben Cole of "SBC Outpost" fame.)

There are four others leaving the student ministry staff at the "main campus" to go to Arlington which will, according to Phil, leave four positions to be filled.

1. Part-time children's director at Arlington will be Lana Kimery.

2. Julie Jordan, who has worked with Phil for 7 years, will be going to Arlington to be a "coordinator/secretary."

3. Ryan Wingo will be leading the music at Arlington. (How's that going to work out with the "11:11" thing back at the "main campus"?)

4. The new "student pastor" for the Arlington campus will be Scott Griffin. You may recall Mr. Griffin from his co-starring role in the 2006 and 2007 Part 1 and 2007 Part 2Bellevue Intern Christmas Videos.

And who can forget Playing Dodgeball aka "Slacking Off at Work and Making Fools of Ourselves." Phil plays a cameo role in this one. (Will he have to give up that cushy office with the private bath when he goes to Arlington?)

Phil says, "Because of the new church start, we did not feel financially justified to bring someone in full-time, but we thought let's bring someone in part-time to work because students... those students by the way... will be plugged in and they'll have their own student pastor (who has hopefully matured a lot in the past 1 1/2 years), but when it comes time for Disciple Now, they're plugged in here. When it comes time for going to Gatlinburg and winter camp, they go with this group, all right? We ARE Bellevue. And so we're still much a part of the whole, but we needed someone to be the face of the student ministry at Arlington. And once again, we didn't have to look far for this. So, Scott Griffin, would you stand? Brittany? {applause} Praise God. We are thrilled to death... uh... when I pulled Scott aside a couple of weeks ago and asked him for the two of them to consider this, uh... I... uh... it was an obvious fit."

In view of the fact that multi-site churches are outside the bounds of Scripture, why not plant churches and maintain close cooperation with an associational type of model? This practice has the potential to preserve many of the "benefits" of the multi-site approach, while simultaneously respecting the biblical nature of the local church as assembly.

While I don't agree with all his reasoning or even that multi-site churches are necessarily unscriptural (what does "liberalism" or the "Conservative Resurgence" have to do with multi-site churches?), I agree with his conclusion. Surely this must make for some interesting conversations whenever the "Gaines boys" get together!

A summary of the changes previously announced can be read on pages 4 and 5 here.

42 comments:

Will the new satellite have preaching by the "campus pastor" Phil, or will it have a video feed of the arch-pastor, Steve?

Some thoughts on various items:

It took several weeks to pray through that. And a few weeks ago we accepted." (Several weeks + a few weeks = 6?)

Since several is more than a few, and a few is more than 1, several must be 4 and a few must be 2. Or it could all be "preacher numbers". Or "fuzzy math".

According to Phil, Steve and David Coombs "shared their vision" and said they "prayed through it" and felt Phil was "the one to lead it."

If they had already prayed before they talked to him and felt he was the one to lead it, why did Phil then have to pray about it for several weeks after that? Isn't the senior pastor God's anointed, who gets the message from God that people are obligated to follow and obey without question? If Phil had said he felt God didn't want him to do it, would that mean Steve and David hadn't heard from God correctly? If so, then maybe they should trade places.

Phil says, "In the same meeting within the same 60 seconds, I boldly... and... correctly... said... 'The search is over. Don't have to pray about it. Don't have to seek anyone.

I wonder why it didn't take as long for Phil to know God's will for Jason as it did for Phil to know God's will for himself. ("Boldly and correctly" – do I detect a bit of an ego there?)

Phil says, "Monday, Jason, Pastor, and David interviewed a young man, and today (Wednesday) Jason, Pastor, and David interviewed a second young man. We believe God is in it for these two to come in and join our staff."

It takes weeks of prayer for everyone to figure out whether people already on staff are right for the job (except in Jason's case), but it only takes a couple of interviews with people not on staff. Huh?

And does anyone else dislike the use of "Pastor" as if a person's name as much as I do? To me it reeks of fawning man-worship.

Phil says, "Because of the new church start, ... We ARE Bellevue.

Which is it? A new church? Or Bellevue? An opportunity for Steve to expand his personal empire?

• Additional Bellevue campuses throughout the Mid-South area

I wonder how many. When is enough enough? How do the other local Baptist churches and the local Baptist association feel about this?

None of this is meant against Phil -- I don't know him at all and have nothing against him. But I am leery (and weary) of the hyper-spiritual language that so many preachers use today that seems to indicate that they are so certain of the mind of God. I'm also just tired of how little "church" today resembles NT Christianity.

Excellent thoughts, Junk. Here are a few thoughts about your thoughts.

If they had already prayed before they talked to him and felt he was the one to lead it, why did Phil then have to pray about it for several weeks after that?

I wondered about that, too. I mean, really, what would have happened had Phil reported back to "Pastor" and DC that God had told him no? Would Phil still be employed? At the least I think Phil would be facing early retirement.

I wonder why it didn't take as long for Phil to know God's will for Jason as it did for Phil to know God's will for himself.

Another good question. And what if Jason had prayed about it and said no? Poor Phil would have again been faced with the prospect of conducting that nationwide search for his own replacement.

And does anyone else dislike the use of "Pastor" as if a person's name as much as I do? To me it reeks of fawning man-worship.

Oh, my goodness. That absolutely drives me up the wall! I cringe whenever I hear someone say that, and Phil says that a lot. "Fawning" is such an apt description of it (and probably one of the few I'd allow to be published here). Blech.

Which is it? A new church? Or Bellevue? An opportunity for Steve to expand his personal empire?

No, yes, and yes.

I wonder how many. When is enough enough? How do the other local Baptist churches and the local Baptist association feel about this?

Good question. When you think about it though, with the mass exodus of members from BBC to other local Baptist churches during the past four years, they may look at this as a chance to gain even more members!

None of this is meant against Phil -- I don't know him at all and have nothing against him. But I am leery (and weary) of the hyper-spiritual language that so many preachers use today that seems to indicate that they are so certain of the mind of God.

The question was askied earlier with all these changes what about the "11:11 service"? Does anyone know anything about the JP situation or what the plans may be at this point since it was stated that RW was leading worship at the Arlington Campus. Also, in the plans for the future it was talked about platform renovation, any info on those changes?

Only the approval of the congregation stands in the way of JP becoming minister of music at FBC Dyersburg.

I, too, wondered about the logistics of RW leading the music at Arlington (aka The Last Outpost) and at 11:11 at 2000 Appling. They'll probably have a 9:30 service at Arlington which will give RW plenty of time to get back to the "main campus" by 11:11. This way he can wear two hats and be compensated accordingly.

No info on the platform changes other than what SG indicated about them building the platform out in the center so he can be closer to the sheeple. I imagine the pulpit will be removed from the platform prior to the 11:11 service each week.

Someone asked (I forget who or when) if Phil Newberry will be preaching at Arlington. The answer is no, at least not according to the plan outlined by SG. Steve will be preaching, and they'll pipe it into the Arlington location by closed-circuit or some other new-fangled method. That's the definition of a "satellite church." One preacher does the preaching from a central location and it's beamed live to remote locations. Otherwise, it would be called a church plant or a mission.

I like the "sheeple"! LOL! So has it been confirmed that JP is going to First Baptist Dyersburg? In regards to the platform, it would have to be designed to still accommodate the 9:30 "traditional" service so I'm guessing they won't go to off the wall with it. But who knows!?! It would give them an opportunity to make the choir area smaller so they don't have each choir member stand with enough space between them to drive an 18-wheeler as to appear more full.

NASS said ...Someone asked (I forget who or when) if Phil Newberry will be preaching at Arlington. The answer is no, at least not according to the plan outlined by SG. Steve will be preaching, and they'll pipe it into the Arlington location by closed-circuit or some other new-fangled method. That's the definition of a "satellite church."

It was me that asked, in the first comment. There are various multi-site church models -- piping in the sermon from the main campus is probably the most common, but some have separate preachers at each satellite. The different models are discussed in the first article in the link you provided on multi-site churches in the comments on your previous post.

From what I know of Steve Gaines I expected that any BBC satellites would have Steve as the preacher, but I wasn't sure when they used the term "campus pastor" for Phil's position at the satellite.

Since the satellite campus has been in planning for a while now, I wonder if Jamie Parker was offered the chance to do music there. If the issue is with his ability to lead a program the size of BBC's, a smaller campus might have been a good fit, if he was willing to do it, and if it was offered.

Don't you just wish you could be a fly on the wall sometimes to know what's really going on behind closed doors? But transorming into a fly is about as likely to happen as a mega-church being open and transparent about staff matters.

Since the satellite campus has been in planning for a while now, I wonder if Jamie Parker was offered the chance to do music there.

Don't think so.

But transorming into a fly is about as likely to happen as a mega-church being open and transparent about staff matters.

Probably more likely. I was surprised they published the videos of Phil, but after the audio recording of Steve's meeting with the SS teachers got out, I suppose they figured those would get out, too. They would have been correct. :-)

It was mentioned that the only thing standing in JP's way of going to FBC Dyersburg is congregation approval. Is it official that, that is where JP is going? I spoke to a source in the music department that told me he was leaving and had a place to go but they would not tell where.

I suppose it won't be "official" until the details are finalized. I don't know any more than that right now, but a reliable source says FBC Dyersburg is the "undisclosed location." Stay tuned with the rest of us. :-)

Didn't BBC just have to lay off some staff / secretaries because of the bad econony? Has the economy improved already? If so, will they bring back to work those let go? If not, how can BBC afford new positions when they couldn't afford old ones?

NASS said...While I don't agree with all his reasoning or even that multi-site churches are necessarily unscriptural (what does "liberalism" or the "Conservative Resurgence" have to do with multi-site churches?), I agree with his conclusion.

I agree with his conclusions also. I was trying to think of a good reason, either financal, or theological, or spiritual, or practical, or scriptural, or whatever, for establishing satellite campuses rather than planting independent churches. I can't come up with any reason that doesn't come back to expanding the personal empire and influence of Steve Gaines and the pride of making BBC bigger and trendier.

The only connection I can see to the Conservative Resurgence is that along with the CR has come a greater emphasis on pastoral authority and the significance of mega-churches in convention politics, in place of the emphasis Baptists formerly put on priesthood of the believer, liberty of conscience, and autonomous congregational governance.

Since Steve has evidently been working toward implementing this multi-site concept for a while now, and Grant's article was just published, it is more than likely that Grant's study of the topic was not cooincidental and independent of Steve's plans. I somehow doubt that Steve will be announcing the article to the congregations and recommending that everybody read it.

During the morning Worship Services on Sunday, November 16, we will worship the Lord together as we give above and beyond our tithe to minister to people in need of the Gospel. This year, the Love Offering will continue to fund “Bellevue Loves Memphis” workday projects, help fill in the financial gap in our Missions Ministry created by recent budget cuts, and set aside additional money for the Benevolence fund if it is needed. Prayerfully consider how the Lord wants you to be a part of reaching the people of our city, nation, and world for Christ through the 2008 Love Offering.

"Will the new satellite have preaching by the "campus pastor" Phil, or will it have a video feed of the arch-pastor, Steve?"

Junk, this was originally how Highview Baptist, Mohler's church, intended to do their multi-sites. Have sat downlinks of the pastor preaching. For some reason, they abandoned this plan and instead the sr. pastor prepares outlines of what to preach on for each pastor at each site. So, the topic is the same using the same outline the sr pastor prepares in advance.

Who knows, they might follow this model. But in this model there is Not a lot of room there for the Holy Spirit to convict of a need for a specific message. All of that is done by one man who seems to know best for everyone.

"The only connection I can see to the Conservative Resurgence is that along with the CR has come a greater emphasis on pastoral authority and the significance of mega-churches in convention politics, in place of the emphasis Baptists formerly put on priesthood of the believer, liberty of conscience, and autonomous congregational governance."

Ah Junk! You are brilliant. That is exactly right. See, the mega model is fairly new as it is only about 30 years old give or take a few here and ther. The mega model in the mix of the CR has made for drastic differences in baptist polity and scriptural interpretations.

It became about building empires. And it worked. But the reason they are going multi site is because the mega's are on the downswing. They climaxed in growth. It is now replacing those going out the back with new coming in the front.

So, a new site is the answer. Not a church plant. That would be giving up power and authority. Can't have that!

It's not hard to believe that all these plans are coordinated. Just seeing FbcJax, Bellevue and other mega churches doing the same thing. Also they are doing the same action plan based on demographics studies. Also given that most of these mega church pastors are planted by the SBC Leadership.

16 Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.

18 And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros--a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra--a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].__________________________________That's strange ~ God thinks HE is supposed to build His Church.

Anyone watch TBN much? I used to leave it on during the night - I was one of those weird people who needed noise to sleep. And I thought for a time that TBN was a good choice. Until I actually started listening to it and then realized what a bunch of nut jobs are on that channel. Anyway, I mention TBN because it just felt like that kind of set up. With all the campus' and site pastor's and on an on... confusing and who would find this to be a good thing? I wouldn't go to a movie of church - and that is what it kind of feels like to me. Are they going to Arlington to get Mrs. Rogers back?

We've heard about the new "Arlington campus" this past week. Now we learn that, for now, the new "campus" will be located at 9817 Huff Puff Road in Lakeland. That's at Exit 20 on I-40. To put that in perspective, the "main campus" is located on I-40 at Exit 15. Lakeland is halfway between the "main campus" and Arlington, a mere 5 miles up I-40.

This organization currently occupies the building and apparently will continue to, at least for the next couple of years.

"Last month I received a letter from the lawyer of an SBC mega church pastor, an SWBTS graduate, who claims I defamed this mega church pastor on my blog in 2008. He accused me of "unlawful conduct" because of my blog post, demanded that I immediately take down the offending posts, else will face a lawsuit with massive damages and legal costs. Even said I would have to pay the mega church pastor's legal costs, which would be "substantial"."

My guess is they're looking for (or at) a permanent location in Arlington. SG specifically mentioned the intersection of I-40 and 385. If this thing gets off the ground, Lakeland will likely be only a temporary location.

The leadership compares this move to when BBC moved to Cordova. They started in 1981 and didn't move until 1989. So if it will be in Lakeland, TN, how many years ??? will it be and why are they not saying so?

Is this going to be another Bellevue club thing like the half million + $$$ investment in the Bellevue Vue on Poplar? Seems they are unable to attract and keep the "pagans" that frequent other establishments that also have WIFI and beverages, like Bookstar, Starbucks, Perkins, McAlister's and McDonalds .

Would it be that someone didn't do their homework...but of course their not answerable to anyone, so who cares.

I find it interesting that Grant Gaines article was found on the 9Marks website. That organization is part of the ministry of Dr. Mark Dever, one of the leading Calvinist voices in the SBC and one of the leaders of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, a ministry dedicated to returning American evangelicals to Reformational Principles. Perhaps Grant, to the dismay of his father, has fallen under the spell of Drs. Mohler and Moore, among others. If true, good for Grant!

By the way, am I the only one who doubts the sincerity of your pastor? He reminds me our boy president--lots of talk and bluster, faux-sincerity, everything done for show, power-hungry control freak, in over his head, etc. Sorry if that's offensive, but your pastor simply does not strike me as the genuine article, so much so I find him hard to watch on television or listen to, and believe me, I've tried. Your former pastor was an altogether different matter. While I disagreed with his free will soteriology, I had tremendous respect for him, particularly his integrity and could he ever preach. How you went from Adrian Rogers to Gaines is beyond me.

Anyone else spot the the Warren speak here? We shouldn't concern ourselves with the unregenerate so much as the unchurched. This is no small matter and is the Purpose Driven engine under the hood of the Arlington campus and the 11:11 service. Phil said it's vital to be relevant to reach these people, hence the huge effort to transform the sanctuary for the contemporary (aka "acoustic") service. The presuppositions are:

1. The World cannot be reached with the Gospel until the World comes to church.

2. The World will not come to church until it finds the environment acceptable.

But the reckoning must come:

3. The World will not find the environment acceptable as long as anything offends it.

CORRECTION: Information I received a couple weeks ago indicated that the initial location of the "Arlington campus" was going to be on Huff Puff Road in Lakeland. This is incorrect! A group led by Scott Benjamin is starting a church plant called "theRefuge" at that location. They've already begun and say they'll be completely up and running in October.

I know for a fact there are people who've read this blog who knew the idea that BBC's "Arlington campus" was going to be at this location was incorrect, but not one person stepped up to correct it. I'd just like to say thank you -- not!

The purpose of this blog is not to spread false rumors and gossip. It's not some silly game! The purpose is to disseminate accurate information. I have an e-mail address posted in my profile. In the future if you see inaccurate information posted here, will you please take a moment to e-mail me with any corrections or simply post them in a comment?

Oh, and where were you, oh omniscient "BBC Staff"? You see, two weeks ago I delayed posting (and soon rejected) two comments from someone calling himself BBC Staff in which s/he said...

As a BBC staff member, I finally woke up to God's calling. I am starting a new blog entitled "BBC Daily Staff Report." On this blog I will report the daily, verifiable happenings around the BBC campus. I am in upper level meetings and have direct access to all things Bellevue. Please feel free to come and read my new blog written from the inside as I present the truth at Bellevue.

That was on a Tuesday evening. I immediately suspected this was a hoax and not a very good one at that. In fact, I haven't seen this bad an effort since "truth rules" dropped in before April Fool's Day a couple years ago. The following day "BBC Staff" posted some information s/he claimed came from a recent staff meeting. Most of it was information that was already public knowledge and most of that was wrong.

Then less than 48 hours after s/he showed up, "BBC Staff" went poof! His/her blog was removed, and I see even the profile is no longer visible. Wonder why? Oooh... did someone get to him? LOL! Sorry, buddy, you'll have to do a lot better than that.

I do not believe the information about the "new church" was in any way an attempt on the part of anyone to mislead, so I don't want to give that impression. It came from a trusted source. I believe it was simply information about this new church which came out at the same time the "Arlington campus" was front page news, and it was assumed references to "theRefuge" were referring to the "Arlington campus" when they were not. Phrases like "our new church plant" from people still at BBC certainly gave that impression, but again, I don't believe there was any intention to mislead.

My only issue about this was that not one person bothered to correct it, and I know there are readers of this blog who knew better. BTW, no one has corrected it yet. I just happened to come across the information myself today, realized I had published incorrect information earlier, and want to correct that now.

CORRECTION: Steve's message will not be piped in live to the "Arlington campus." Rather, they have announced they will tape and show the previous week's "11:11" message. The 9:30 service will continue to be broadcast on TV.

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